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Inside Washington (07/21/2011)

* WASHINGTON (7/22/11)--The Federal Reserve Board is seeking comment on a notice outlining the regulations previously issued by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) that the Federal Reserve will continue to enforce after assuming supervisory responsibility for savings and loan holding companies (SLHCs). Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, supervisory and rule-writing authority for SLHCs and their non-depository subsidiaries transferred from the OTS to the Fed Thursday; the Fed requests comment by Aug. 31 and intends to issue an interim final rule soon that will include technical, nomenclature, and other changes to certain OTS regulations to accommodate the transfer of supervisory authority to the Fed board and to address modifications made by the Dodd-Frank Act. … * WASHINGTON (7/22/11)--In a final rule issued Wednesday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said operating subsidiaries of national banks must follow state consumer protection laws (American Banker July 21). The OCC revised language critics said ignored the aims of the Dodd-Frank Act. The OCC’s initial interpretation maintained that national banks can bypass any state law that “obstructs, impairs or conditions” the banking business. State advocates said that standard is too broad. Dodd-Frank says state laws that “prevent or significantly interfere” with banking can be avoided. In Wednesday’s final rule, the agency acknowledged the two standards are not the same, though the difference may be small. “To the extent that an existing preemption precedent is exclusively reliant on the phrase ‘obstructs, impairs, or conditions’ as the basis for a pre-emption determination, we believe that validity of the precedent would need to be re-examined to ascertain whether the determination is consistent with the new standard,” the rule said …